Apple certainly followed the letter of the law, if not the intended spirit.

Apple has turned its punishment from a UK High Court into an opportunity to point out that rival tablet maker Samsung's Galaxy Tab devices are "not as cool" as the iPad. And, as expected, Apple was able to do it using the UK judge's own words.

While Apple was busy suing Samsung in Germany and The Netherlands over alleged copying of the iPad earlier this year, Samsung filed a preemptive lawsuit in the UK to get a declaration that Samsung did not violate Apple's registered EU community design. UK courts are sometimes known to be more amenable to alleged infringers than to patent or design rightsholders, and their decision would apply to the entire EU, not just Britain.

Ultimately, Apple lost the original case and its appeal, with the courts consistently ruling that Samsung did not infringe on the registered design of the iPad.

Appeals Judge Sir Robin Jacob explained that the case wasn't about whether or not Samsung "copied" the iPad. "Infringement of a registered design does not involve any question of whether there was copying: the issue is simply whether the accused design is too close to the registered design according to the tests laid down in the law," he said.

As part of the ruling, Apple was compelled to post a link on its UK homepage to a statement that the UK court ruled Samsung did not infringe its registered EU design rights for the iPad. It was also compelled to post advertisements in prominent UK publications stating the same fact, as it was the only way to "correct the damaging impression" that Samsung was a copycat.

In addition to the required statement and a link to the full ruling, however, Apple pointed out that High Court Judge Colin Birss also called the iPad a "cool design," and the Samsung tablets "not as cool."

The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth, and simple product. It is a cool design.

The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.

Apple also reiterated that a German court ruled that Samsung "engaged in unfair competition" by copying the iPad design, and that a US jury awarded Apple over $1 billion because Samsung had infringed a number of design and utility patents.

As our British readers might say, Apple was being "quite cheeky" in its compliance with the UK ruling, turning the statement from "Samsung didn't copy the iPad" into "Samsung did such a bad job of copying the iPad that it's not as cool." The accompanying print advertisements don't appear to have been published just yet, but we expect Apple will publish the same statement that appears on its UK website.